I am supportive of Al Gore for all of the work he has done for getting the word out on global warming. He deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, and I pray that people will come to accept responsibility for the pollution that is causing such radical change in the Earth's climate.

I am aware that some people are nay-sayers on this topic (see my last post for more on that), and I respect people's right to disagree, but I do believe that, regardless of whether humans are the cause of the warming or not, it certainly doesn't hurt to make our environment cleaner than it is. But if it is true that we are causing the Earth to warm up, we really should do more than we are to turn it around and help the climate to cool back down. The evidence is overwhelming in favor of global warming, which really scares me. And I doubt the Nobel Prize committee would grant their award to someone who doesn't deserve it.

Let us try and realize a world in which we work together to tackle pressing issues that concern us all.

I encourage all to respond to this post, but please, keep the discussion polite and respectful of differences.
 

I believe the people in the town where I currently live are insane.

I have deliberately avoided reading the opinions and letters to the editor in the local paper, because every time I do, I become angry and upset, and then I write a response giving my views, which leads to a bunch of people bashing me in the forum online (the paper is online as well as in print). Today, though, I was somehow tempted to peek at the letters, and sure enough I became insensed at something--a lady insisted that global warming is a "liberal agenda" lie and that in fact we are in for a new ice age. She then said her husband teaches this in his class at a local college. I was so tempted, and I gave in to my temptation. I responded that global warming is fact, and I would not attend a college class that taught otherwise. Quickly, people lined up to slam me. I was called an idiot, a baby killer, a vegetarian, and all kinds of nonsense. There was nobody who was on my side--every one of them slammed me, called me names, and thought they were so clever.

Now, I truly understand that there are multiple sides to any issue, but I also believe that I have the right to express my view, and I shouldn't have to defend my character just because I expressed a view that is unpopular with others. And I am a bit shocked that global warming gets this kind of reaction here. Even many Republicans here in the USA believe in global warming. I am disgusted with the people here, and that they believe it is okay to use name-calling to win an argument. How about winning an argument on merit?

I feel as though I truly cannot express my view here, without being ridiculed for it. I am now angry, bitter, and disgusted. Does anyone else feel this way?

I am planning to move out of here and go some place where people are not so narrow-minded. Soon, I will be one of the insane if I stay here. I will go back to living in the safety of ignoring the newspaper once again, until I finally leave this hell of a town.
 

On August 17, members of our local church met with the Council on Church and Ministry, and an agreement was reached. Our church will keep our pastor after all. The only difference will be that the woman our pastor is dating will not be able to hold membership in the church, but she may come as a visitor as often as she wants. Wow, what a difference...actually, this amounts to almost no difference than before. Such a big tadoo over nothing, in my opinion. I suppose, though, that the Conference had to feel like they did something, without really doing anything.

All that is left is to hold a church council meeting later this week in which we will formally withdraw the woman's membership, and we have to submit our meeting minutes to the Conference to show our compliance with the agreement. I am still moderator, so I have to formally "ex-communicate" someone, which I am only doing because we still want to be a church, and this is the only way to get the Conference off our back. We can reapply for our grant, but we have to wait until next February.

Now, maybe we can focus on real issues for a change.


 

Things have gotten worse. The head of the conference cancelled our grant, so there is no hope of getting money to hire a new minister. We actually have a candidate for the position who is well liked and would solve our problem, but we cannot hire her. And, a committee is coming in August to determine if our current minister will be stripped of his credentials.

It seems that the head of the conference is conducting a power play against our minister. She wants us to meet with this committee and be hopeful for a positive outcome, but in order to comply with them, we need money to fund another minister, because without that, our church will have to shut down. I don't understand these people--they put us in an impossible situation. It's as if they are setting us up to fail.

And this is from a denomination that advertises that everyone is welcome here in the church, but it looks like they don't live by their own philosophy. I am bummed out. Our moderator quit, as we were opposed to her, and now I am moderator, at least temporarily until another can be elected, and I am left to clean up the mess that she started.

In August, we will know if there will still be a church here. I am not at all sure which way it will go, and I fear the worst.



 

I belong to the United Church of Christ, the first mainline church denomination to formally endorse same sex marriage. It is a left-wing church, and boasts of being "Open and Affirming" which means basically that we welcome anybody, specifically LGBT people. We are bible-based, but we do not read the bible literally, and we are open to many different interpretations. We are a thinking person's church and emphasize social justice. It is the only church I can live with.

Our church here in town is very small, started in 2004 with about 12 members, and now we are somewhere around thirty members. We just recently formed a church council and wrote a constitution and bylaws. With some luck, we will soon be awarded a grant that will enable us to hire a pastor (we currently have a retired minister who works for free), and be taken into the denomination formally later this year.

But we ran into a snag. Our current pastor informed us that he recently became romantically involved with a member of our church. To be honest, I didn't think this was a problem. But our moderator got in touch with the regional conference, and now our pastor is being told to either resign, have the member no longer attend our church, or they have to break up. I was shocked, especially given that our pastor works for free and plans to step down as soon as we can hire someone else, that we are not even formally attached to the denomination yet, that the relationship is between two consenting adults, and that everyone (except the moderator) thinks the relationship is a good thing. Plus, the church advertizes that it is open to all people without exception.

My concern is that our pastor might literally have to resign, which leaves us with no pastor. The contraversy might also work against us getting the grant to pay for another minister. We are in a difficult position right now, and I would hate to see the church fail now, especially since we have been growing and have so much promise for success.

 

1) Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.

2) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

3) Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.

4) Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can't marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.

5) Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Britany Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.

6) Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn't be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren't full yet, and the world needs more children.

7) Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.

8) Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That's why we have only one religion in America.

9) Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That's why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.

10) Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven't adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.

Post this in your Journal to support Gay Rights!

 

I was shocked to hear that Brad Delp, lead singer of the rock group Boston passed away. Apparently, he died alone and was discovered after there was a call for help to 911. It's thought that there was no foul play, though it is yet unknown what caused his death.

Apparently, Boston was planning a comeback with a new album on the horizon and a summer tour being planned. Brad Delp was to be part of the album and tour, and he was also planning a wedding for himself and his fiancee.

I have been a Boston fan since the '70s, with favorite songs "More Than a Feeling," "Peace of Mind" and "Amanda."

Boston's website simply says, "We've just lost the nicest guy in rock and roll."

http://www.bandboston.com/


 

Jerry Leggett, known as the Sea Wall Singer, is traveling around the country singing songs and speaking out about peace. He interviews people he sees and asks them, "Is peace possible? What would a peaceful world look like?" He came through Arizona, and some of my friends from church went out to see him, though I could not, as I was working. He has videos on youtube and on his website of his stops on his tour, which will last for a year.

See his website at: http://www.peacebubble.org/home.html


 

I am a male crossdresser and it turns out that I have a testosterone deficiency. I don't know if the two are related, but maybe they are. Only time will tell.

Last August, I had a tumor in my pancreas and surgery to remove the tumor, which was producing insulin that caused my blood sugar to severly drop which caused seizures. Through all of the recovery, my endocrinologist checked and rechecked my hormone levels, and discovered my testosterone deficiency.

I asked my therapist, who specializes in transgender patients, about whether the testosterone deficiency might be related to the crossdressing, and she said it might be. Some transgendered males have female receptor cells, and taking testosterone ends up being very bad for them; they really respond better to estrogen. On the other hand, some transgendered males do well on testosterone. Apparently, I need to watch out for moodiness, depression, and cognitive problems, all of which could be a sign that I am not responding well to the testosterone, or if I respond well, my crossdressing desires might be suppressed.

I have noticed some moodiness since I have been on testosterone, though I have not had real anger issues. I told my endocrinologist about the moodiness, and she told me that it is unlikely that the moodiness is caused by the testosterone. She said it is more likely I would have moodiness if the testosterone is too low, or if it is significantly high. I used to have depression and took wellbutrin for it, but I was taken off of it because of the seizures I had in August--wellbutrin can cause seizures in some people. My endocrinologist believes I would benefit from being back on the wellbutrin, as we now know my seizures were caused by low sugar and not the medication, though she is starting me out on a low dose just to be sure.

The body is quite a machine, one we don't entirely understand yet. Living as a transgendered person is sometimes complicated, even if I am not transitioning. Medical issues can be complex.


 

I have new respect for Gerald Ford.

When he was president, I was just a child, but what I remember most was that he came into office at the end of an enormous scandal from the Nixon administration. Ford was never elected to the presidency or vice-presidency, and it seemed as though he was a pawn for Nixon. Ford pardoned Nixon, which seemed to be the real reason Ford was ever appointed. When Ford ran for president in 1976, people were so disgusted with the Watergate scandal that Carter won that year. Ford left office and faded into the background.

Since his death, however, I have learned new things about Gerald Ford that give me respect for him. I read recently that Ford condemned the Bush administration for going into Iraq. Ford thought it was a huge wrong to invade Iraq, and that Bush was not a good president. I also read that Ford wanted equal rights for gay and lesbian people, including the right to marry. I was blown away by that, as I never heard any high-ranking republican say that. Quite remarkable.

It seems to me, though, that in today's USA, if Ford were running for the presidency he would have an extremely difficult time getting the republican nomination with views such as he had. I wonder if he would have dared admit such views when he was president. Maybe one of the advantages of being a former president is that he could express his true opinions without having to worry about what people think. But of course even then, he waited until his death to release those true opinions.

Still, he did record his opinions and maybe now after his death he can help some people realize that there is hope on the horizon. Time will tell.